If your website traffic has moved around lately, you’re not imagining it. Google has been unusually active with algorithm updates this year, rolling out changes faster and more frequently than it has in years past. For a business owner who isn’t glued to SEO forums every day, it’s easy to feel like the ground keeps shifting under you. This post breaks down what’s actually changed recently, what’s just noise, and what you can realistically do about it.
Why Google Keeps Updating So Often
It helps to understand what these updates actually are. Google makes small, unannounced tweaks to its search algorithm constantly, sometimes multiple times a week. Most of these go unnoticed because they’re minor. But a few times a year, Google rolls out what it calls “core updates,” which are broad, sweeping changes to how content is evaluated and ranked across the entire web. These aren’t targeted at specific websites. They’re Google recalibrating, as a whole, what counts as genuinely helpful and trustworthy content in a search landscape that keeps changing.
On top of core updates, Google also periodically releases “spam updates,” which are narrower in scope. These focus specifically on tightening the systems that detect manipulative or low-quality tactics, rather than reshaping how good content gets ranked.
Both types of updates have been landing more frequently in 2026 than in previous years, and the gap between them has been shrinking. That’s worth knowing, because it means the days of making one SEO push and coasting for a year are largely over.
The Two Most Recent Updates
The most significant recent change was the May 2026 Broad Core Update. It rolled out over less than 12 days, which is fast for an update of its size, and by most accounts, it had a noticeably bigger impact than the core update that came before it back in March. Sites that had been coasting on outdated SEO tactics, thin content, or generic pages saw real movement, in both directions. Some businesses that had quietly improved their content and technical performance since March saw gains they didn’t expect. Others saw drops they didn’t see coming either.
Not long after, Google released the June 2026 Spam Update. This one applied globally, across every language Google supports. Unlike some of the slower spam rollouts in the past, including one last August that took nearly four weeks to complete, this update wrapped up in about two days. No new spam policies were introduced alongside it. It was simply Google sharpening the tools it already uses to detect manipulative practices, including its AI-based spam detection system.
Is There a July Update? Not Officially
As of now, Google hasn’t confirmed a new core or spam update for July. There has been some discussion in the SEO community about unusual ranking movement around June 19, but the major tracking tools that monitor search volatility stayed relatively calm during that stretch, which suggests it wasn’t a broad algorithm shift.
Some of that period’s turbulence, particularly in sports and news content, was actually tied to a surge in searches related to the World Cup, which temporarily crowded out older articles and reshuffled what was showing up in results. That’s a demand shift, driven by what people are searching for, not an actual change to how the algorithm works. It’s a useful reminder before assuming every ranking dip is Google’s doing. Sometimes the explanation is simpler than that.
Two Policy Changes Worth Knowing About
Alongside the technical updates, Google made two policy clarifications this year that are worth flagging, especially if you or a client has ever dabbled in gray-area SEO tactics.
First, Google explicitly stated that attempting to manipulate its AI-generated search responses now counts as spam. This is the first time AI manipulation has been named directly in Google’s spam policy, rather than being loosely implied. As AI Overviews and AI-generated answers take up more space in search results, this signals that Google is treating attempts to game those answers just as seriously as traditional keyword-stuffing or link schemes.
Second, Google introduced a policy against what’s being called “back-button hijacking.” This refers to tactics that trap users on a page or redirect them when they try to leave, often used to inflate time-on-page metrics or force unwanted clicks. Enforcement of this policy began in mid-June, and sites caught using it can face manual actions or automatic ranking demotions. If your website or a client’s site uses any kind of aggressive exit-intent popup or redirect trick, this is worth reviewing sooner rather than later.
What This Actually Means for Your Website
None of this calls for panic or a complete strategy overhaul. But it is a good moment to do a few practical things:
- Check your Search Console data around late May and late June specifically. If you see a drop or a gain in that window, you’ll know which update it likely lines up with, rather than guessing.
- Avoid manipulative shortcuts. Tactics aimed at gaming AI-generated answers or trapping users with redirect tricks are now explicitly against policy, not just frowned upon.
- Keep content genuinely useful, with real human oversight. Google isn’t penalizing the use of AI tools in content creation. What it’s penalizing is content published without meaningful editorial review, regardless of whether a human or an AI wrote the first draft.
- Don’t confuse demand shifts with algorithm shifts. If your traffic dips because a topic you cover is being crowded out by something like a major sporting event or breaking news cycle, that’s usually temporary and not something to “fix” with drastic changes.
What’s Likely Coming Next
Based on the roughly 90-day pattern Google has followed through most of 2026, the next major core update is expected sometime in the August to September window. Historically, this period tends to be the most volatile stretch of the year for search rankings, so it’s worth using the next month or so to shore up anything that’s been sitting on your to-do list, whether that’s page speed, outdated content, or thin product descriptions.
Search isn’t static, and it’s not going to slow down anytime soon. But the businesses that tend to come out ahead after each update aren’t the ones scrambling to react. They’re the ones that were already doing the fundamentals well before the update ever rolled out.
If you’re not sure whether a recent shift in your traffic is tied to one of these updates or something else entirely, Catbook Advertising & Designing is always happy to take a closer look and walk you through it.